Spain Deploys Army in Ceuta to Patrol Border with Morocco after Migrants Break in

A migrant crosses the Spanish-Moroccan border in the presence of a Spanish civil guard in Ceuta, Spain, May 17, 2021. (Reuters)
A migrant crosses the Spanish-Moroccan border in the presence of a Spanish civil guard in Ceuta, Spain, May 17, 2021. (Reuters)
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Spain Deploys Army in Ceuta to Patrol Border with Morocco after Migrants Break in

A migrant crosses the Spanish-Moroccan border in the presence of a Spanish civil guard in Ceuta, Spain, May 17, 2021. (Reuters)
A migrant crosses the Spanish-Moroccan border in the presence of a Spanish civil guard in Ceuta, Spain, May 17, 2021. (Reuters)

The Spanish government has deployed troops to Ceuta to patrol the border with Morocco after thousands of migrants swam into the northern African enclave, a source from the Interior Ministry said on Tuesday.

Soldiers will patrol the border along with Spanish police.

"This starts immediately," the source said, without specifying how many troops will be deployed.

A spokesman for Ceuta's government delegation said soldiers will work with police in sensitive locations within the enclave to maintain order on the streets.

As many as 6,000 Moroccans, including about 1,500 minors, swam into Ceuta on Monday and Tuesday, Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said.

One person died in the attempt, a Spanish government delegation spokesman said.

The adult arrivals are being transferred to a local football stadium to be handed back to Morocco. Minors are being sent to an industrial building.

Ceuta, with a population of 80,000, is an enclave located on the northern tip of Morocco across from Gibraltar.

The Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and nearby Melilla on Morocco's northern coast have long been a magnet for African migrants trying to reach Europe in search of a better life.

Spanish TV channel 24h reported on Tuesday morning that as many as 85 migrants climbed the border fence to break into Melilla, which is located about 300km east of Ceuta on the Moroccan shore.

The arrival of the migrants took place at a time of increased tension between Spain and Morocco over the fate of Brahim Ghali, the leader of the Western Sahara's Polisario Front, who is in hospital in Spain.

Morocco's Foreign Ministry issued a strongly worded statement last month deploring what it said was the decision of Spain to admit Ghali under a false identity without informing Morocco, adding that the situation would have repercussions for relations between the countries.

The United States in December recognized Moroccan sovereignty over the Western Sahara territory, which is also claimed as an independent state by the Polisario Front.

Ghali is hospitalized in Spain, a Spanish diplomatic source told Reuters.

Ghali was accepted into Spain on humanitarian grounds, Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya told Cadena SER radio on Monday evening.



UK to Use Police Stations as Prisons under Emergency Measure

Police officers are seen in London, Britain, November 27, 2024. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
Police officers are seen in London, Britain, November 27, 2024. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
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UK to Use Police Stations as Prisons under Emergency Measure

Police officers are seen in London, Britain, November 27, 2024. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
Police officers are seen in London, Britain, November 27, 2024. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy

Police cells will temporarily be used to hold prisoners in a stop-gap measure to cope with overcrowding in jails, the British government said on Tuesday.

The emergency action, dubbed "Operation Safeguard", allows inmates to be held in police cells when prisons are full, and was previously used from February 2023 to October last year, Reuters said.

The prison population in England and Wales has doubled in the last 30 years, according to official data, leading to overcrowding as new places have failed to keep pace with demand. Justice systems in Scotland and Northern Ireland are run separately.

In a statement to parliament, Shabana Mahmood said the prison system was operating at more than 99% occupancy.

January saw the highest average monthly prison population growth in almost two years, as part of a rising trend in the last three months that "has only just begun to slow", she added.

"Given the recent increase in demand, it is necessary, and prudent, for me to temporarily reactivate Operation Safeguard to better manage the flow of offenders into the prison estate," Mahmood said.

According to the World Prison Brief database, imprisonment rates in England and Wales are higher than in other major European countries, with 141 detainees per 100,000 population, against 120 in France, 117 in Spain, 105 in Italy and 68 in Germany.